Paraguay: UNASUR to Observe General Elections in April

27th December 2012
Mariel Matze

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The Paraguayan Supreme Electoral Justice Court (TSJE) will invite the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to observe and evaluate the 21st April 2013 general elections, announced TSJE spokesmen Luis Alberto Mauro and Carlos María Ljubetic yesterday. The elections will be the first since the controversial power shift that ousted former president Fernando Lugo, instated current president Federico Franco, and prompted the country’s suspension from the UNASUR regional bloc.

Franco had stated previously that because his administration had not been given an opportunity to argue its legitimacy before other UNASUR members, observers could come but “they were not going to invited.” President Franco has invited the Organization of American States (OEA), the European Union (EU) and the Jimmy Cater Centre, all of which already plan to follow the elections.

In response, Mauro declared, “from the Electoral Justice we have accepted the arrival of all independent international missions with or without the consent of the government.”

Ousted head of state and senatorial hopeful Fernando Lugo added from Quito yesterday during that the upcoming April elections “will not be a coat for white paint over what happened in June.”

Paraguay has been suspended since last 29th June immediately following the leadership shift deemed by UNASUR and Mercosur as a “democratic breakdown” and heavily criticised by many neighbouring world leaders. “It will not be so easy to take up Paraguay’s relations at the international level after the elections,” warned Lugo.